The Corporation
Before I read the book, I had seen the documentary based on it -- twice -- and it was every bit as effective -- disturbing, really -- on second viewing. The book, being read a couple of years after seeing the documentary, was chilling. I'm writing about the Corporation by Joel Bakan -- a book that many will regard as being anti-business, anti-globalization -- but I don't see it that way. The book is hardly anti-business. It's hardly anti-anything. It's actually a book that calls on us to exercise the epitomizes of our civil society: democracy, and social responsibility. Both of these however, run directly against the interests of a monster of our own creation: the corporation.
Take some of these corporate misdeeds and ask yourself why it happened. Enron's collapse. Monsanto's terminator seeds. Blackwater's creation of a mercenary army. Halliburton's bilking of the US public funds. How did it come to be that people, working for a business, would circumvent ethics and morals, and perform inhumane acts to enable the profitability of a corporation?
Bakan answers this question by examining the creation of the corporation -- the granting to it, the legal rights of a person -- and its evolution to become a psychopath. The book is rich with examples and interviews to illustrate salient points. Bakan takes us on a ride into the future by highlighting exceptional cases that prophesies what will come if nothing is done. It's scary, especially since a lot of his examples are not examined by the mainstream media -- the MSM, corporations in their own right, who are not on some altruistic mission to serve the public's interest. At the end, Bakan prescribes a remedy to reign in corporations -- and you'll be surprised at the simple solution. The only institution created to serve the public is government. Government is mandated to pursue the interest of society, even though corporations have slowly been eroding that interest and perverting that goal. It will be our governments, working for us, that has the power to preserve our capitalistic, democratic and socially responsible society.
The book is a must read for every participant of civil society. If you're one of those that can finish a page without your eyes glossing over, the documentary is readily available -- for free!
Take some of these corporate misdeeds and ask yourself why it happened. Enron's collapse. Monsanto's terminator seeds. Blackwater's creation of a mercenary army. Halliburton's bilking of the US public funds. How did it come to be that people, working for a business, would circumvent ethics and morals, and perform inhumane acts to enable the profitability of a corporation?
Bakan answers this question by examining the creation of the corporation -- the granting to it, the legal rights of a person -- and its evolution to become a psychopath. The book is rich with examples and interviews to illustrate salient points. Bakan takes us on a ride into the future by highlighting exceptional cases that prophesies what will come if nothing is done. It's scary, especially since a lot of his examples are not examined by the mainstream media -- the MSM, corporations in their own right, who are not on some altruistic mission to serve the public's interest. At the end, Bakan prescribes a remedy to reign in corporations -- and you'll be surprised at the simple solution. The only institution created to serve the public is government. Government is mandated to pursue the interest of society, even though corporations have slowly been eroding that interest and perverting that goal. It will be our governments, working for us, that has the power to preserve our capitalistic, democratic and socially responsible society.
The book is a must read for every participant of civil society. If you're one of those that can finish a page without your eyes glossing over, the documentary is readily available -- for free!
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